weekly tv news

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ABC Adapting Stephen King's Desperation Source: Variety Monday, December 15, 2003

ABC has picked up a three-hour adaptation of the apocalyptic Stephen King novel, Desperation, to be directed by Mick Garris (The Stand). King has already written the screenplay for the network which is also developing a Kingdom Hospital series.

Based on King's 1996 book, Desperation follows the plight of a man who winds up in a bizarre mining town in Nevada (named Desperation, natch) after being pulled over by the strange local sheriff. The man eventually discovers that a mysterious force has killed the town's residents - and that he must either kill this thing or escape.

The project has been in development for some time, having originally been optioned as a feature film by New Line. Production is expected to begin in March or April.

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Timothy Hutton Joins 5 Days to Midnight Source: Variety Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Timothy Hutton (the upcoming Secret Window) will star in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries 5 Days to Midnight.

He will play J.T. Neumeyer, a science professor who receives information from the future detailing his murder, which is to take place in five days.

Gage Golightly and Hamish Linklater (Live From Baghdad) also have joined the cast. Golightly will play the daughter of Hutton's character; Linklater will play a student obsessed with him.

"Midnight" is set to premiere in second-quarter 2004. The channel will strip the five-part thriller to coincide with the five days J.T. has to change his destiny. Production will begin in Vancouver this month.

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Kramer Cracks in "Seinfeld" Feud

by Julie Keller
Dec 24, 2003, 1:40 PM PT



Kramer has crossed the Seinfeld picket line.

Michael Richards, the beloved, wacky star of the much-Emmy’d comedy series has broken ranks with costars Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and decided to participate in an upcoming DVD about the show.



Until now, all three stars have passed on participating in the project due to financial woes—reps for all three actors have said their clients were unhappy with their payoffs from the continually successful show and they didn’t want to work for free.

But Richards finally caved to pressure after talking things over with series star Jerry Seinfeld over the weekend. He does maintain that he would like to receive some cash for participating, particularly since others like Seinfeld, co-creator Larry David and several others involved in production are still making money on the show.

"I think everyone wants to get paid," Richards told the New York Times. "Is it honorable for those on the inside to make compensation? That's an ethical question they have to deal with. But I never heard back from anybody."

It seems unlikely that Kramer will cash in for his participation, since actors don’t generally get paid on residual deals like DVDs. "I innocently asked a question. 'Is there some compensation?' I don't believe there is," Richards told the Times. "There isn't anything."

Still, Richards says he is going to do his part to make the DVD a success. "I'm not boycotting," he told the Times. "I'm involved. I was never called to do an interview. I am so for the DVD coming out that I'll go on the Tonight show."

Elizabeth Clark, a rep for Seinfeld, says the actor still has hope that the erstwhile George and Elaine will come around and that he plans to get in touch with them in the New Year. "He hopes they will participate in the DVD," she said in a statement.

But whether Alexander and Louis-Dreyfus sign on or not, the DVD is likely to be a smashing success. Seinfeld was consistently a No. 1 show and a mainstay of "Must-See TV" on NBC throughout its run from 1990 to 1998. Even today, it still runs relentlessly in syndication and generates millions for its Seinfeld and David, co-creators and executive producers.

Seinfeld, meanwhile, is having no trouble keeping his pockets lined even without the help of his hit show.

The star has landed a deal to write, produce and star in Bee Movie, a computer-animated feature-length flick for DreamWorks.

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The Sopranos Return on March 7 Source: Variety Monday, December 29, 2003

Just as Sex and the City bids farewell February 22, the fifth season of The Sopranos will kick off March 7 with the first of 13 new episodes, says Variety.

Fans of HBO's signature drama series are certainly champing at the bit in anticipation of what happens next to the New Jersey mob family. The last original episode aired December 8, 2002.

In that episode, "Whitecaps," Edie Falco's Carmela lashed out at James Gandolfini's Tony in an expletive-filled tirade after receiving a phone call from one of Tony's mistresses and proceeded to throw her husband out of the house.

The show will also return for a 10-episode season number 6, which would begin production in early 2005. It is expected that will be the last season for The Sopranos.

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CBS Gives Green Light to CCAT Crime Drama Source: The Hollywood Reporter Monday, December 29, 2003

New York lawyers-turned-writers JP Donahue and Kevin Polay have set up the crime drama CCAT: Career Criminal Apprehension Team at CBS.

The show, which follows the workings of a law enforcement agency dedicated to capturing career criminals before they strike again, is produced by CBS Productions and Sony Pictures TV.

"CCAT" marks Donahue and Polay's second TV series effort, following the drama L.B.C., which they developed for Original TV and 20th Century Fox TV last year.

The duo also has set up several projects for the big screen, including Clash at Revolution Studios, Omniscience and Book of the Dead at Warner Bros. and Adrenaline at DreamWorks.

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With all the talk over whether Sci-Fi will or won't pick up the recent redux of "Battlestar Galactica" as a TV series, writer/producer Ron Moore decided to address all the talk recently to sci-fi news site SyFyPortal and confirmed that the decision is still under review:

"We're still in discussions with the network, the actors' contracts have been extended until the end of January (that is the time period in which their options for series can be picked up) and I've been working on the show bible and the first few episodes in anticipation of a possible order. It's a complicated, ambitious show, and Sci-Fi Channel wants to understand all the economic implications before going to series -- pretty standard network procedure -- but I'm hopeful we'll get the pick up get the pick up"

Moore meanwhile is taking time out and confirms he won't return to work no the second season of HBO's "Carnivale" series - "I won't be returning to 'Carnivale' for its second season as I decided to concentrate on development and hopefully a BSG series".

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Seinfeld to Make Curb Your Enthusiasm Cameo Source: Newsweek Sunday, January 4, 2004

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is scheduled to make a cameo in one episode of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO this season, Newsweek reports in the current issue. The magazine reports that Seinfeld will turn up in an episode set in Manhattan. "But don't blink," says David, declining to elaborate except to say that the brief cameo wasn't planned. Seinfeld just showed up on the set one day.

The premiere on Sunday, January 4, will launch two storylines that will stretch the length of the season. In one, Larry and his TV wife, Cheryl (played by Cheryl Hines), will celebrate their 10th anniversary in three months-a date that coincides with the show's season finale-and we learn via flashback to 1994 that the two have struck a provocative deal: if they make it to 10 years, Larry can have sex with another woman. Once.

In the second storyline, Mel Brooks, playing himself, spots Larry onstage at a karaoke bar and, though he has no evident talent, offers him the lead role in "The Producers," his Broadway megahit. David's costar is Ben Stiller.

"Enthusiasm" is the Emmy-nominated comedy series on HBO in which David plays himself: the curmudgeonly, whiny, kvetchy and now fabulously wealthy cocreator of Seinfeld.

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Bryan Singer Revisits the Bermuda Triangle Source: Sci Fi Wire Tuesday, January 6, 2004

"X-Men" series director Bryan Singer tells Sci Fi Wire that he is producing a Sci Fi Channel miniseries about the Bermuda Triangle and will write a treatment with Independence Day producer Dean Devlin. The as-yet-untitled eight-hour miniseries will air in four parts, Singer said in an interview.

"The hook is turn the myth upside down, make kids scared of [the Bermuda Triangle] again," Singer said. The Triangle has lost its luster because of "war, current events, the usual things that turn people away from traditional horror," he added. To him, the Triangle represents "the unknown, everyone's greatest fear."

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Screenwriter's Voice has an interview with Scott Peters, the creator of THE 4400, a new science fiction mini-series scheduled to be broadcast on USA Network. Originally announced last month, THE 4400 follows what happens when 4,400 missing persons -- believed to have been abducted by aliens -- are suddenly returned to Earth. Some have been missing for a few years while others have been gone for decades, yet all haven't aged a single day since their abduction.

In the interview Peters talks about his past experience working as a writer for THE OUTER LIMITS and HIGHLANDER and the process that he went through to sell THE 4400 to USA Network. He also teases us with what may be the true mystery behind the disappearance of the abductees and the new abilities they soon begin to manifest, the challenges of writing the script and what his focus was when writing the show...


"The show is less about that phenomenon than it is about what happens when people's lives are interrupted in an extraordinary way," explains Peters to Screenwriter's Voice. "How do they go about putting themselves back together? How do they deal with now suddenly being part of a new minority? How will (some of them) reconcile the fact that almost everyone they knew has lived their lives and are now gone, but they haven't aged a day. What if you were Rip Van Winkle?"

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Vivid Video, Universal Music Group and DirecTV are joining forces to bring naughty music videos to the masses.

Universal, the world's biggest record label, hopes to showcase their more cutting-edge acts and at the same time boost falling music sales. Among UMG's acts are provocateurs 50 Cent and Marilyn Manson.

The channel would feature uncut music videos and original music-flavored programming. Backers believe it could fill a void for those seeking "raw" lyrics and images, creating what one called "more of a free-expression place."

Record label executives have long complained that MTV has abandoned its original focus on music. MTV executives counter that there's always MTV2.

The Universal-backed channel has yet to secure cable or satellite distribution. If it succeeds, Universal would be the only major record company with a stake in television in the U.S., the world's biggest music market.

In a nod to the proposed channel's uncensored content, it is called 1 AM, short for the 1st Amendment.

Unlike MTV, which is carried as part of advertising-supported basic cable packages, 1 AM would be available only as a commercial-free premium channel, similar to HBO.

Universal is pitching the new channel as a joint venture with the Endeavor talent agency, along with the adult-video entrepreneurs behind Vivid Entertainment Group, and Shady Records, the Universal-financed label run by rap superstar Eminem. Sources close to the deal said the ownership structure has not been set in stone, but one idea under discussion has Universal and the Vivid partners each owning 45% of the channel, while Endeavor and Shady would own 5% stakes.

The 1 AM channel is aiming for a July launch, although insiders note that may be optimistic given the recent ownership change at DirecTV. In mid-December, News Corp. took control of the satellite TV leader.

Meanwhile, Hype TV, which stands for Hot Young People's Entertainment Television, is in the works.

Hype is backed by entrepreneur Peter Griffith, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Worldwide and Playboy Entertainment.

Like 1 AM, Hype plans to air uncensored music videos as well as movies and original fare.

The channel has secured limited distribution, with a two-hour Saturday night block set to air on the Playboy channel this May.